Shear connector

Abstract

A tie assembly is used in a cavity wall having a back-up wall and a brick veneer to secure the brick veneer to the back-up wall. The tie assembly includes a plate that is secured to the back-up wall in a vertical orientation, with an tying portion of the plate projecting towards the brick veneer. A series of tie openings are spaced along the outer edge of the plate to receive a tie bar that projects into the mortar between adjacent brick courses. The tie bar cooperates with the plate to transmit loads oriented in any direction in the plane of the plate between the brick veneer and the back-up wall. This means that shear loadings as well as lateral loads are transmitted between the veneer and the back up wall, so that the two act as a truss structure.

We claim: 
     
       1. A tie assembly for a cavity wall having a vertical back-up wall and a vertical brick veneer separated by a cavity, said assembly comprising: a plate having an inside anchoring portion with a plurality of fastener openings therein, and an outside tying portion;   a tie bar with a bight and two legs projecting to one side of the bight for engagement between courses of the brick veneer; and   a tie bar engaging means on the outside tying portion of the plate engaging the centre section of the tie bar and preventing substantial relative movement between the tie bar and the plate whereby:   when the anchoring portion of the plate is secured to the back-up wall with fasteners through the fastener openings and the legs of the tie bar are engaged between courses of the brick veneer, shear forces will be transmitted between the back-up wall and the brick veneer.   
     
     
       2. An assembly according to claim 1 wherein the tie bar engaging means comprise a tie bar opening adjacent an edge of the plate receiving the tie therethrough. 
     
     
       3. An assembly according to claim 2 comprising of a row of tie openings adjacent said edge of the plate. 
     
     
       4. An assembly according to claim 1 wherein the fastener openings comprise four openings in a rectangular array, with two fastener openings adjacent a top edge of the plate and two fastener openings adjacent a bottom edge of the plate. 
     
     
       5. An assembly according to claim 4 including a plurality of cross legs adapted to be received in the fastener openings to project to either side of the plate for engagement between courses of a block back-up wall. 
     
     
       6. An assembly according to claim 5 wherein each cross leg is a rod. 
     
     
       7. An assembly according to claim 6 including a crimp in the cross leg adjacent the centre thereof, the crimp presenting a rod cross-section that will not pass through the fastener openings. 
     
     
       8. An assembly according to claim 6 including a leg lock engageable with a cross leg and having a size larger than the cross sectional size of each fastener openings so as to prevent the removal of the cross leg from a fastener opening. 
     
     
       9. An assembly according to claim 1 including insulation retaining means for retaining an insulating panel against the back-up wall. 
     
     
       10. An assembly according to claim 9 wherein the insulation retaining means comprise at least one retainer aperture through the plate between the fastener openings and the tie engagement means, and a cross member engagable through the retainer aperture. 
     
     
       11. An assembly according to claim 10 including a plurality of retainer apertures spaced between the anchoring and tying portions of the plate. 
     
     
       12. An assembly according to claim 11 wherein the retainer apertures are rectangular. 
     
     
       13. An assembly according to claim 12 wherein the cross member is a wedge. 
     
     
       14. An assembly according to claim 13 wherein the wedge has a serrated face. 
     
     
       15. An assembly according to claim 11 wherein the retainer apertures are circular. 
     
     
       16. An assembly according to claim 15 wherein the cross member is a pin. 
     
     
       17. A wall comprising: a substantially vertical back-up wall;   a substantially vertical brick veneer spaced from and parallel to the back-up wall to define a cavity between the brick veneer and the back-up wall;   a plate having an inside anchoring portion and a vertically oriented tying portion projecting into the cavity towards the brick veneer;   fastening means securing the inside anchoring portion of the back-up wall and preventing relative movement of the anchoring portion and the back-up wall;   a tie bar secured to the brick veneer between courses thereof and projecting from the veneer into the cavity; and   a tie bar engaging means securing the tie bar to the tying portion of the plate, in the cavity, preventing relative movement of the tie bar and the tying portion of the plate, whereby shear forces are transmitted between the back-up wall and the brick veneer.   
     
     
       18. A wall according to claim 17 wherein the anchoring portion of the plate comprises fastening openings therethrough and including fasteners extending through said openings and securing the plate to the back up wall. 
     
     
       19. A wall according to claim 17 wherein the tying portion of the plate comprises a tie opening through the plate and the tie comprises a rod with a bight extending through said tie opening and divergent legs projecting into the brick veneer. 
     
     
       20. A tie according to claim 17 including a layer of insulation on the back-up wall, in the cavity, and a cross member secured to the plate, projecting therefrom and securing the layer of insulation against the back-up wall.